LONDON KEEPS BUSINESS CROWN

FOR ALL its failings, London is still easily Europe's most desirable business capital.

It has beaten off the challenge from pretenders to the crown such as Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid and Milan to scoop the title of Best European City for Business for the third year running.

A survey by leading American business magazine Fortune, carried out in conjunction with Arthur Andersen, polled nearly 1500 businessmen around the world, more than half of whom are chief executives.

In Europe, Frankfurt came second, followed by Helsinki, Amsterdam and Dublin, with New York, Buenos Aires and Hong Kong named top cities elsewhere.

Qualities rated most highly by executives

across the world were the pro-business attitude, local availability of professionals, entrepreneurial activity and the city's ability to pull in foreign professionals. Surprisingly, the personal rate of taxation was the least important factor, while corporate taxes came in at number eight in the list of 12 considerations.

Stephen O'Brien, chief executive of London First, the inward investment agency for London, said: "Companies locate here to benefit from its unrivalled strength as a world financial centre, its advanced communications and its vast pool of specialist, multicultural expertise."

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